Edge of Winter

In this horror movie about a divorced father's descent into madness, Joel Kinnaman stars as troubled, unemployed Elliot, whose ex-wife drops off their sons, 15-year-old Bradley (Tom Holland) and 12-year-old Caleb (Percy Hynes White), to stay with him at his isolated home for a couple of weeks. Elliot decides to take the boys out into the wintry Canadian woods for shooting lessons, but after his SUV veers into a snow bank the trio are forced to continue on foot as a blizzard approaches. A deserted cabin beside a frozen lake provides temporary shelter, but once Elliot learns that his ex-wife plans to relocate to England with the boys, he decides that they will all stay in the cabin permanently, interpreting any reluctance on the part of his sons as a betrayal. When two hunters show up claiming that their truck has broken down, Elliot decides that the pair are a danger to his plans and must be dealt with. Naturally, Bradley and Caleb grow increasingly terrified about what their father might do and they try to escape. Edge of Winter is an uneasy child endangerment thriller that not only fails to generate much tension but also dribbles off into frustrating irresolution. Optional, at best. (F. Swietek)